congressional campaigns

State Rep. Jimmy Matlock’s congressional campaign released a statement Friday saying their campaign, and Matlock’s business, have been facing “an almost constant stream” of cyberattacks, reports the News Sentinel.

“We have filed a police report on the illegal hijacking of our staffer’s cell-phone and have retained a cyber-crime forensic investigator,” the release stated. “We are relatively certain who is behind it because they left a trail a mile wide and are just gathering the remaining evidence.”

Knox County Mayor Tim Burchett, who is running for a seat in Congress, and former Knox County Sheriff Tim Hutchinson, who is running for a seat in the state House, had a heated exchange when they crossed paths in Knoxville’s City-County building recently, reports the News Sentinel.

The May 10 incident was caught on a security camera video, but without any audio. The two men offer differing accounts of the verbal exchange, though both say it included anonymous emails about Burchett and his stepson. The two have a political history: Burchett defeated Hutchinson in the 2010 mayor’s race.

U.S. Rep. John J. “Jimmy” Duncan Jr. on Tuesday announced he was endorsing State Rep. Jimmy Matlock for the congressional seat that has been tied to the Duncan name for more than half a century, reports the News Sentinel.

Former Democratic congressmen Bob Clement and Lincoln Davis are taking opposing sides in their party’s 7th Congressional District primary where Republican state Sen. Mark Green is unopposed for the Republican nomination to succeed U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn.

Clement, who served as 5th Congressional District from 1988 until 2003, is backing Justin Kanew, a film writer and producer from College Grove in Williamson County Davis, who was the 4th Congressional District representative from 2003 until 2011, is backing Matt Reel of Primm Springs in Hickman County.

Though without opposition in the 7th Congressional District Republican primary, state Sen. Mark Green loaned his campaign another $200,000 in the first quarter of 2018 – making a total of $500,000 in self-funding so far — and collected $267,949 in contributions, according to a report filed with the Federal Election Commission.

State Rep. Jimmy Matlock of Lenoir City raised and spent more money in his campaign for the Republican nomination in the 2nd Congressional District in the first quarter of 2018 than any other candidate, including Knox County Mayor Tim Burchett, according to disclosure statements filed with the Federal Election Commission.

Aided by another $50,000 personal loan, the Matlock campaign has also built up a higher cash balance than Burchett’s campaign in the race to succeed retiring Republican U.S. Rep. John J. “Jimmy” Duncan Jr.

Multimillionaire perennial candidate George Flynn, who lost to Rep. David Kustoff by less than 3,000 votes in the 13-candidate 2016 Republican primary for the 8th Congressional District, has put $1.4 million of personal funds into his 2018 effort to unseat the incumbent, according to a new report filed with the Federal Election Commission.

Legislation giving permanent control over the Tennessee State Fair to an association founded and headed by Republican 6th Congressional District candidate John Rose was halted on the House floor Monday evening after a Monday morning report on the measure in The Tennessean.

The measure (HB2483, as amended) by Rep. Andy Holt (R-Dresden) and Sen. Ferrell Haile (R-Gallatin) had already cleared committees in both the House and Senate. The scheduled House floor vote was postponed indefinitely by sponsor Holt, who is a member of the board of the Tennessee State Fair Association, without comment.

In an article with a Chapel Hill, Tenn., dateline, the Wall Street Journal cites Mariah Phillips as an example of Democrats “fielding challengers for nearly every Republican U.S. House incumbent this year—a change from the last midterm election in 2014, when 36 Republicans won re-election without facing a general election opponent.” She’s running in the 4th Congressional District, now held by Republican Rep. Scott DesJarlais.

Multi-millionaire perennial candidate George Flinn, who finished second to David Kustoff in a 13-candidate primary for the 2016 Republican nomination in the 8th Congressional District after about $3 million in self-financing, will have a more direct confrontation with Kustoff in a 2018 rematch.